Tortilla Wrap

Tortilla Wrap

Ingredients:
Tortillas
Store bought roasted chicken, deboned and shredded
Lettuce Leaves
Sour Cream
Chimichurri Sauce
Guacamole
Salsa

Chimichurri Sauce
Adapted from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chimichurri-sauce/

Ingredients:
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, stems removed
1 bunch cilantro, include stems
1/2 cup - 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 Tablespoon garlic, minced
1/2 Tablespoon Sriracha sauce
Juice of 1 lemon wedge
1 small onion, diced

Chop parsley and cilantro. Put in food processor or blender together with the rest of the ingredients except for the olive oil. Mix and add olive oil little by little until you have your desired consistency.

Guacamole Sauce
http://blogs.babycenter.com/life_and_home/four-seasons-secret-guacamole-ole/

4 Ripe Avocados
2 Limes, juiced
1 Roma Tomato, diced
1 Small Red Onion, diced
1 Jalapeno, deseeded and diced
1/2 cup Cilantro, chopped
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Kosher Salt to Taste

Take the avocado cut across the center and split in halves. Take the pit out and take the avocado out of shell using a large spoon. Place in a mixing bowl and add juice of lime. Incorporate together using a large spoon to break up the avocado.

Note: I didn't have lime and so I used 2 tablespoons of bottled lime juice.

Salsa

Adapted from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/restaurant-style-salsa-recipe/index

Ingredients

One can diced tomatoes and mild green chilies
Tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves (or more to taste!)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 whole jalapeno, quartered and sliced thin, with seeds and membrane
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 whole lime, juiced

Directions
Combine the diced tomatoes, tomatoes, cilantro, onions, garlic, jalapeno, cumin, salt, sugar and lime juice in a blender or food processor. 

Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you'd like. I do about 10 to 15 pulses. 

Refrigerate the salsa for at least an hour before serving.

My notes: 

Heat tortilla. Spread each tortilla with guacamole. Layer with meat, chimichurri sauce, salsa, sour cream and lettuce leaves. Roll burrito style.

If jalapeno is not available, use one can diced tomatoes and jalapenos instead of a can of diced tomatoes and chilies for the salsa.

You can also use battered fish instead of roast chicken.

Enjoy.

Comida China de Manila (formerly San Jacinto)

San Jacinto has always been our favorite go to restaurant. Not only is my husband and the owner, Benny, on a first name basis but we were also given discount cards since we are such sukis. We've been going to this restaurant since they opened in this location. Since they changed their name, they are reissuing discount cards again. So when you dine here, ask for a discount card which entitles you to a 10% discount.

Why do we love San Jacinto? They serve very good Filipino Chinese food and we can order it in poquito size. Since we're a family of three, the small size option works really well for us.

Pinsec Pork poquito size at Php 60. This is a good dish to munch on while waiting for the rest of your party.

 Lumpia Shanghai poquito size at Php113. My husband insists that we order this every time we're here. Sometimes, he gives in and lets me order my favorite, lechon macau.

Lo Hon Chay poquito size at Php139. This is the reason why we keep on coming back to this restaurant. They really have the best Lo Hon Chay in town. My son, the carnivore, gobbles this up like it was meat!

Fried Milk poquito size at Php131. Yes, you read it right...Fried Milk! This is like an omelette without the egg yolk with shrimps and liver incorporated in it. It is served on a bed of vermicelli noodles. It has the consistency of Egg Foo Yung. My husband and I like this dish but my son thinks it tastes weird but ok.

Yang Chow small size at Php224. This is excellent.

It's really funny that my son's Chinese friends have never heard of San Jacinto. I suppose it's because the Chinese food that they serve is catered to the Filipino taste. For us, it's just so comfort food. It's Chinese Food, Philippine style.

Comida China De Manila (formerly San Jacinto)
FRDC Bldg., 106 E. Rodriguez Ave.
near Mom and Tina's Bakery

Rub Ribs and Bbq

My son, the carnivore, is always on a lookout for good and hearty meat dishes. My sister-in-law told us about the rib place near Charlie's grill that served good ribs at an affordable price and so we decided to give it a try. Thank God that my husband was in a pretty good mood that day because Rub restaurant is so difficult to find. The sign is so small that one wonders how people can even find it. We were told that it was located about 200-300 meters from Charlie's grill so we went up and down looking for it. We saw the Runner's Burger joint and thought that Rub was the shorter name for it. But there were no ribs on their menu. After a couple of calls to my sister-in-law, we were told that Rub was located in a corner white building. Bingo, we finally found it and at 3 pm, the place was still filling up.

Chicken Cajun Pasta at Php 200. My son is still dreaming of everything Cajun from Popeye's and so we had to order this dish. This was not bad. The pasta was served al dente and the cream sauce did not overpower but blended well with the cajun chicken.

Super Duo at Php 370. This was described to us as a whole slab of  baby backed ribs good for 2 persons. We chose the garlic mashed potatoes and coleslaw as our sidings. Yup, we are very traditional with our food choices. We almost always pick mashed potatoes, coleslaw and corn with ribs and chicken because that is the way it has always been served in the U.S. restos. Everything in this plate was excellent. It was not doused with sauce but we were also given some sauce on the side in case we wanted it dripping with sauce. The whole slab looked like half a slab though or maybe it was a preemie instead of a baby pig.

Sprice at Php65. This is the killer rice. We would come back to this resto again and again just for this rice. The cajun seasoning is blended so well that you just have to roll your eyes when you put this rice in your mouth. What I would also love to do is get a take-out order of this and pair it with the Baked Fried Chicken at Stackers. Why not?

Rub Ribs and BBQ
88 East Capitol Drive

Chili Con Carne

Chili Con Carne
Adapted from: http://www.food.com/recipe/award-winning-chili-105865

Ingredients:
1/2 kg ground beef
3 cloves garlic
2 onions, chopped
1 green pepper, diced
1 can tomatoes with jalapeno
450 g tomato sauce
2 Tbsp cumin
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp sea alt
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp oregano
cocoa powder
1 can kidney beans, drain and rinse
1 can black beans, drain and rinse
1 cup water plus 1 cube Knorr beef bouillion

Toppings
Sour cream
cheddar cheese
green onion

Procedure:
Panfry onions, garlic and green peppers in dutch oven. Add ground beef. Add seasonings, tomatoes and water. Bring to a boil. Add beans, cover and simmer 1-2 hours.

My notes:
At first glance, I thought that this recipe would be quite spicy because of the 2 tbsps of chili powder, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper and the canned tomatoes with jalapeno. But my husband and I like spicy food and so I just poured in the whole gamut of spices from the original recipe. I didn't have a cocoa bar and so I added a handful of chocolate chips. After it simmered for an hour, I tasted the dish to correct the seasonings and I was amazed that it just had the right amount of kick. The spice was not overpowering and you don't need to drink buckets of water to enjoy this dish. On the contrary, a glass of wine and some crackers are perfect accompaniments to this dish.

Sizzling Bulalo with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Sizzling Bulalo with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

Adapted from: http://www.yummy.ph/recipe/sizzling-bulalo-with-creamy-mushroom-sauce

Ingredients

Beef Shank
1 onion, quartered
1 carrot, cut into three pieces
2 stalks celery, chopped rough

1 tsp whole peppercorns

For the creamy mushroom sauce
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small can sliced mushrooms, drained
2 teaspoons Knorr Demi-Glace Sauce Mix
1 cup beef stock (from the water used to boil the beef shanks)
cooking cream (I use Elle & Vire brand)

Procedure:

1.     Remove marrow from the bone. Set aside. 
In a large stockpot, combine beef shanks, onion, carrot, celery stalk and whole peppercorns. Add water to cover. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Cook until beef is very tender. Skim off scum and oil. Let cool. Transfer beef shanks to a strainer. Strain stock and set aside.

3.     Make the mushroom sauce: Pan fry bone marrow on all sides until no longer red. Remove and set aside. Add butter to the sauce pan. Sauté onion. Add garlic. Add mushrooms. Pour in beef stock. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. Add demi-glace sauce mix. Add cooking cream. Mix well and let sauce thicken. Season to taste. Set aside.

4.     When ready to serve, heat sizzling plate until white smoke appears. Return marrow to the bone. Sear beef shanks.

5.     Pour in mushroom sauce. Serve immediately.

Note:

The original recipe called for deep frying the shanks for a crispy sizzling bulalo. I opted to pan fry it for health reasons.

Knorr Demi-Glace Sauce Mix which was on a half price sale at Unimart. At 188 pesos, I thought that it was a steal. I use it to add flavor and to thicken sauces. 

YenYen Taiwan Street Food

We finally made our way to YenYen after they moved to a brighter and airier location on P. Guevara.The restaurant never appealed to us when they were across from Mien San because it was dark and looked really seedy. Upon entering the new YenYen, my husband exclaimed that he liked the feel of the place and he hoped that the food would be good since it's located in our neighborhood.

As expected, my son said that he will choose the dishes to order. I couldn't believe it when he ordered fried everything since these were the dishes the server recommended.

Fried Wantons at Php 180. This was nothing great. I think that I will order the steamed variety on our next visit.

Taiwan Porkchops at Php 220. This is their house specialty. The chops were really crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. My son loved this dish.

Taiwan Special Fried Rice at Php 195. This rice is really good. It's somewhat like sticky rice and has the texture of machang or kiampong. The serving was sufficient for the three of us.

8 Treasures at Php 120. This is their version of halo-halo with shaved ice. I needed this to remove all the oily taste in my mouth. This dish was quite good.

We thoroughly loved our lunch at YenYen. The service staff was very accommodating. They even gave us free coffee. The location is also great because there are four tea shops a block away. So, naturally my son had to cross over to the Kozui branch for his milk tea fix.  Then, he exclaimed that we have to eat at YenYen again because he wants to try their asado which looked like it was wrapped in something and then fried. Yes, it looked really yummy on their wall poster. We shall return.

YenYen Taiwan Street Food
198 Wilson St., corner P. Guevara

Brasserie Cicou

Since Brasserie Cicou does not have a single negative review, the Jungolf moms and I decided that this would be the next venue for our lunch date.

For starters, it was a toss up between the pate platter and the roasted bone marrow. As you can see, we ended up with the healthier option. There was really nothing special about this dish if eaten as is. My friends said that it tasted like chicken galantina and the pate in the terrine had the consistency of corned beef! However, when we were served individual servings of mustard, the pates suddenly came to life. It was a  perfect fit. This was served with their complimentary mini baguettes which was so, so good. The baguette was served warm with a slab of butter on the side. It was so crunchy on the outside and so moist and soft on the inside. We must have had 3-4 refills until we were told that it was their last piece!!!! The pate platter was Php 310.

Seafood Bouillabaise at Php 490. This dish had mixed reviews. I liked the flavor of the seafood reduction which was the base of this dish. The fish, clams and other pieces of seafood were cooked to perfection. However, my friend was looking for the creamy bouillabaise which is usually served in Filipino homes and restaurants. It was only then that I realized that yes, it would taste even better if served with some type of gremolata. When I got home, I googled the reviews of this dish and true enough, this dish should have been served with some condiments. Oops, the service staff forgot to serve those condiments to us.

Garlic Sausage with lentils at Php 320. This must be the french version of  pork and beans! The homemade sausage was good but I liked the lentils even better.

Onglet de Boeuf at Php 490. This was highly recommended by the server and so we decided to give it a try. This was US beef hanger steak which was cooked medium. I am not a fan of hanger steak and so this dish did not yell out "Eat me, eat me!" However, my friend who is a steak lover said that this was an excellent dish which she could eat all by herself. Honestly, this was the only dish we had which was not a small portion.

Kouign-Amman at Php 310. This flaky pastry was served with Sea Salted Caramel ice cream. This dessert is pure heaven. We had to have another order which took 20 minutes but we happily waited for it. The pastry was so flaky, buttery, moist and just had that touch of sweetness which was perfect. The salted caramel ice cream that was paired with it was a stroke of genius. Oh my, oh my. I am still dreaming of this dessert. It really is the best dessert in town. You really, really, really have to try this dessert and then you can die happy.

Would I go back to this restaurant? You bet I would just to have my fill of the complimentary mini baguettes and the KA. So, so yummy. The service was also excellent; no quibbling when we kept requesting for refills of the bread basket. That's the sign that the service staff was trained well. I've also never eaten in a restaurant which had perfectly seasoned dishes but Brasserie Cicou really had this. Amazing. The only downside is that the servings are quite small but I suppose that this is the norm in French cuisine.

Lunch at Brasserie Cicou with the Jungolf Moms. A photo op at the start of our meal with our first complimentary bread basket.


Brasserie Cicou
57 Annapolis St.(beside OB Montessori)
Greenhills, San Juan